Developing what we do

Customer journey mapping is a way of examining, in-depth, the services Sovereign provides but from the customer’s perspective. Putting the customer’s activities and experiences into a chronological order then creates a customer journey map.

Mapping customer’s journeys helps Sovereign to better understand how internal processes are perceived by the customer and can show points of customer effort and irritation so improvements can be made.

Up to July 2021 we have completed seven customer journey mapping projects. In total these seven projects have included:

• Hosting 19 workshops
• Involving 161 customers
• Involving 75 staff
• Recommending 59 service improvements

In August 2021 a customer journey mapping project focused on our keyworker service at our sites in Reading, and this project:

• Hosted two workshops
• Carried out a feedback exercise involving 48 customers
• Involved nine employees delivering the service
• Recommended 54 service improvement actions including:
  • Install new easier to read signage for customers to use
  • Keep communicating regularly with new customers when they move in so that they don’t feel like they are “squatting” in someone else house

In October 2021 we mapped the journey customers experience when using our Market Rent service, and this project:

• Hosted two workshops
• Carried out a feedback exercise involving 19 customers
• Involved nine employees delivering the service
• Recommended 10 service improvement actions including:
  • Improve the description of the adverts by including details of the criteria to prevent ineligible people from unnecessarily applying
  • Carry out a separate feedback exercise with customers that have failed at the point of references to understand why

Coming soon:

In February 2022 we will be mapping out the journey that a customer experiences when mutually exchanging their home with another property.

In Spring 2022 we will carrying out a customer journey mapping project that will be looking to improve the service for our younger customers that want to be part of our Youth Panel.

Imagine the advantages of designing a service from the bottom up, where customers and staff will deliver the service hand in hand by designing a service offer that works for everyone.

We call this approach co-creation and we’ve used it to develop elements of our new Home & Place standard.

Our co-creation principles are built around these themes:

Together – we are non-judgemental and we accept and respect everyone’s viewpoint

Partnership – we are brave but realistic, motivated to succeed and courageous

Collaborate – we are constructive, creative and forward-thinking, and work towards a result that will benefit both our customers and Sovereign

A group of residents, staff from the Development team and architectural consultants came together for a series of 10 workshops, held face to face and virtually.

These workshops focused on environmental sustainability, the home itself, the place and surroundings where our homes are built, and what  homes and places our customers want to live in in the future.  Customers discussed what key principles we should apply in all these areas when we undertake future developments.

The result is a design guide and an assessment tool which can be used to holistically assess what decisions are needed to deliver social, environmental and economic benefit for existing and new-build homes.

You can read more about the standard here.

This standard sets out our vision for the homes we want to build and the places and communities people want to live in.

Jointly developing this standard with residents, and by using the following three co-creation principles:

Together – we are non-judgmental and we accept and respect everyone’s viewpoint

Partnership – we are brave but realistic, motivated to succeed and courageous

Collaborate – we are constructive, creative and forward-thinking, and work towards a result that will benefit both our customers and Sovereign

This new draft Empty Homes standard will influence the works we carry out on our homes after one tenancy ends and before another begins.

Currently this Standard is being trialed in a number of properties across Sovereign, and we have engaged with customers to find out what they think. We’ll measure their reaction against the cost of the new specifications before finalising the standard.

Update, Spring 2021

The new draft Empty Homes standard represents a significant change to the works we complete before new residents move into an empty home.

The first wave of the pilot is now complete. Customers who moved into the upgraded homes were pleased with the standard, particularly if they’d moved from another Sovereign home.

Teams working to upgrade the homes were also proud of the work they’d done, and were positive about the upgraded standard.

However, the pilot was affected by the pandemic - we weren’t able to trial the standard in different styles and ages of homes. Because of this, the pilot has been extended, so we can see if the standard is practical and affordable to deliver in every single one of our homes when they become empty.

Early in 2019, the National Housing Federation (the national organisation for housing associations in England) introduced its Together with Tenants charter, which sets out what tenants can and should expect from their landlord.

The charter contains six commitments around the following themes:

• Relationships with residents
• Communication
• Voice and influence of residents
• How associations can be accountable
• Quality of homes
• What happens when things go wrong

We’re an early adopter of the charter, testing it out and feeding back to the National Housing Federation about what we learn.

We’re developing a new customer strategy, and we’re ensuring the six principles of the Together with Tenants charter are embedded into it.

We’ll be ready to share our new customer strategy in the first half of 2021, so watch this space!

Find out more about Together with Tenants here.